The Palatine Chapel is currently located inside the Royal Palace of Palermo. Commissioned by King Roger II, its construction began in 1130 and was consecrated on 28 April 1140 as the private chapel of the sovereign and the royal family. With a central layout and three aisles, it is characterised by ...

Used by the Etruscans and the Romans, ancient porphyry is a variant that came from Ancient Egypt after it was conquered by Augustus following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The Egyptians, in fact, used it in their works, associating it with royal power. From the 5th century AD it also became a symbo...

Constance of Hauteville was born in Palermo on November 2, 1154 to Roger II (1095 - 1154) and Beatrice of Rethel (c. 1135 - March 30, 1185). She inherited the Kingdom of Sicily when William II, the last member of the Norman Hauteville dynasty, died in 1189 without an heir. She married Henry VI, son ...

In 1208, when Frederick II was no longer under papal protection, he was crowned king of Sicily in his own right. The following year, it was the Pope himself who organised the marriage between Frederick and Constance of Aragon, daughter of Peter of Aragon and former widow of Emeric of Hungary. Consta...

The term matroneum derives from the word "matron" and, in medieval churches, was an architectural element consisting of a gallery. More precisely, it was a tribune, located above the side aisles and open to the central one, in which women attended religious worship. Later, the women's gallery, the m...

In 1185, Palermo Cathedral was dedicated and consecrated to the Blessed Virgin of the Assumption. The Assumption of Mary is one of the dogmas of the Catholic Church. Although it began to spread at the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th century AD, it was not until 1950 that Pope Pius XII procla...

In a document dated March 1187 and addressed to William II, Archbishop Gualtiero begged the king to move the remains of the royal family, which were in the chapel of St Mary Magdalene, to another chapel, yet to be built in a nearby area. The reason was that the chapel was an impediment to ecclesiast...

Among the most important chronicles is De Principe Templo Panormitano, by Giovanni Maria Amato in 1728. Published in thirteen books and accompanied by original documents, it is a collection of stories, information and documents covering the period from the first building of the Cathedral to the pres...

Giovanni Maria Amato was born on 15 July 1660. Son of the Prince of Galati, Antonio Amato, and Francesca Alliata, of the Princes of Villafranca, he was a philosopher, historian and archaeologist. After taking the habit of the Society of Jesus, in 1728 he wrote “De principe tempio Panormitano”, a...

After the restoration of the bell tower in 1726 by Giovanni Amico, numerous transformations were carried out from 1781, especially inside the Cathedral. While the initial project was the work of the royal architect Ferdinando Fuga, the work was carried out by the architect Venanzio Marvuglia, with m...